“We know firsthand how much these laws restrict our ability to provide our patients with quality, evidence-based care,” the OB-GYNs said in the letter. “Texas needs a change.”
Nine days later, State Rep. Donna Howard introduced House Bill 257, which proposes exceptions to safeguard maternal fertility and mental health, as well as cases where the fetus is not viable outside the womb. Howard also filed House Bill 395 the same day, which outlines rape and incest exceptions excluded from Senate Bill 8, the 2021 Texas law that outlawed all abortions past six weeks, except in life-threatening situations.
“In the last two years, I have heard heartbreaking stories from pregnant Texans who have been forced to travel thousands of miles, suffered intense emotional and physical trauma, and, in some cases, have died because of the abortion ban,” Howard said in a statement. “It is time for the Legislature to listen to our medical community and clarify the law.”
The letter cited ProPublica’s reporting on the deaths of Josseli Barnica and Nevaeh Crain, who both died of pregnancy complications in-state after emergency room doctors delayed their care. Both women’s deaths could have been prevented, according to the letter.
“The law does not allow Texas women to get the lifesaving care they need and threatens physicians with life imprisonment and loss of licensure for doing what is often medically necessary for the patient’s health and future fertility,” the OB-GYNs said in the letter. “Josseli Barnica and Nevaeh Crain should be alive today.”
Dr. Rachel Shepherd, an Austin OB-GYN and letter signee, said while she feels comfortable in her knowledge of what the current law allows, she worries for patients who don’t have an OB-GYN.
“The biggest impact in my particular private practice is the fear that my patients are experiencing and the fear that ER doctors have of breaking the law and getting into trouble,” Shepherd said. “I know what I need to do to be able to take care of patients, but the ER doctors might not.”
While recent updates to the law outline ectopic pregnancies and premature water breakage as life-threatening situations, Shepherd said the law’s vague language continues to have a chilling effect on both doctors and patients.
“We all have the goal to protect women and keep them safe,” Shepherd said. “The mistake is that abortion has become politicized when it should be treated as any other medical procedure.”
